Birds In High Places Develop Thick Jackets

 This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here.

Birds that live in high altitude or higher places study says tend to develop like down jackets that is thick in order to survive the cold weather.

According to the study birds that live in cold environment tends to be full of feathers or feather rich to protect and insulate their body from cold environment.

“A study of 250 species of Himalayan songbirds has revealed how their feathers evolved for higher altitudes. The birds in colder, more elevated environments had feathers with more fluffy down - providing them with thicker "jackets". The insight reveals how feathers provide the tiniest birds with such efficient protection from extreme cold. It also provides clues about which species are most at risk from climate change, the scientists say.”(BBC)

 

The main point : Birds that live in higher cold places tends to develop a thick jacket through their feathers in order to adapt in their environment.

 

image from SI.Edu website

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South Korea Do COVID-19 Test For Pets

 This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here

South Korea -The capital city in South Korea or Seoul will conduct a COVID-19 test for dog and cat pets’ owners after the country record its first confirmed animal case of COVID-19 but only those who show symptoms.

 

The first confirmed animal case was from a cat or kitten of a mother and daughter at the religious facility in the city of Jinju.

 

“A city official also said that pets that test positive for coronavirus must be quarantined for 14 days in their owners’ homes or at an animal facility. Seoul official Park Yoo-mi told an online briefing that the city is ready to conduct free testing of pets from Monday. Last week, South Korea’s government published guidelines for COVID-19 testing of pets after a cat in the city of Jinju became the country’s first confirmed animal case of coronavirus. The cat belonged to a mother and daughter who were among dozens of people at a religious facility who tested positive.”(Yahoo News)

However, officials said there is still no evidence that infected animals can transmit the virus to humans.

South Korea is not the first country in the world to have an animal case of COVID-19; there are cases in UK, United States, Spain, and Denmark.

The main point: Seoul city in South Korea will do a test for pet dogs and cats after recording its first confirmed animal case of COVID-19 but only those who show symptoms.

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Camels Die From Eating Plastics

 This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here

In the United Arab Emirates or UAE, about 1 % of camels there die because of ingesting and eating plastics which the camel mistake for a food. When the camels eat plastic, they have a feeling their stomach is full or not feeling hungry thus they die because of not eating any real foods. The type of camels on UAE are dromedary camels or Camelus dromedarius.

“As dromedaries roam the desert looking for food, they munch on plastic bags and other trash that drift into trees and pile up along roadsides. “From the camel’s perspective … if it’s not sand, it’s food,”……With a stomach full of plastic, camels don’t eat because they don’t feel hungry, and they starve to death. Plastic can also leach toxins and introduce bacteria that poison the one-humped mammals….”(Science News)

The ingested or eaten plastic materials is called “polybezoar”. It is not actually pure plastic thing but a combination of plastics, ropes, and other things trapped in the digestive tract or stomach that are stone-like mass.

“We define the ingested waste as a polybezoar, a collection of tightly packed indigestible materials which can include plastics, ropes, other litter and salt deposits trapped in the stomach or digestive tract forming a large stone-like mass.” (Science Direct)

“When camels eat plastic, it accumulates into enormous, stomach-clogging masses called polybezoars. Researchers found these polybezoars — the biggest of which weighs almost 64 kilograms — inside dead camels in the desert near Dubai…”(Science News)

“Polybeozars lead to gastrointestinal blockages, sepsis from increased gut bacteria, dehydration and malnutrition.”(Science Direct)

The main point : Camels or dromedary camels in United Arab Emirates or UAE die because of eating plastics which are trapped in their digestive tract or stomach which are called “polybezoars”.

 

image from Science News website

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Chicken Justice

 This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here

A man from France has been found guilty of animal cruelty and other offenses for killing a just noisy chicken or rooster of his neighbor for being irate and irritated of its being rowdy.

According to the news, the man shot the chicken and impale it with an iron bar the chicken died. The owner of the chicken or rooster, Sebastian Verney, with his chicken name Marcel, started and do a petition calling for the justice for his dead chicken or rooster and has gain 100,000 sign or signatures.

“A man in France has been handed a five-month suspended sentence for shooting a noisy rooster and then impaling it on an iron bar……. The neighbour was found guilty of animal cruelty and other offences. Along with the suspended sentence, he was also fined €300 and banned from carrying a weapon for three years.” (BBC)

 

The main point : A chicken or rooster in France was shot dead and maltreated for just being noisy from its irate and irritated neighbor wherein the neighbor was found guilty of animal cruelty for what he has done on the chicken and other offenses.

 

 

 

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Mama Bear And Cub Shot

 This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here

Recent shooting of a mother bear and her cub by a Russian navy have made an outrage on social media making the act a cruelty to animals. But the Russian navy defended the shooting that there is no way to drive the animal from climbing the nuclear submarine but to shoot it.

“A mother bear and her cub were shot and killed while trying to board a nuclear submarine in Russia, according to news reports. The sub was docked near the village of Rybachiy in Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, which has served as a submarine construction base since the 1960s. In a video shared on social media on Nov. 8, crewmembers aboard the sub watch as the two bears swim up from the adjacent bay and climb aboard the vessel's deck.”(Live Science)

“The Russian Navy has defended the shooting of a mother bear and its cub on a nuclear submarine following outrage among many social media users. The navy says there was no other option after the animals climbed onto the vessel moored off the Vilyuchinsk base in the far-eastern Kamchatka region.” (BBC)

 

“Hundreds of social media users accused the navy of unnecessary cruelty after seeing a video of the shooting online.” (BBC)

 

“In the video, one of the animals is seen falling into the water after apparently being hit by a bullet.”(BBC)

 

“In an unedited version of the video, a shotgun blast rings out before the bear cub falls from the sub's deck and into the bay.”(Live Science)

 

image from Live Science website

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Dogs Were Domesticated Long Ago

 

This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here

Study says dog race has been domesticated since long ago as human’s companion and according to the news, dogs were derived from a wolf race that has been domesticated and become the present dog race. The news said the present dog race come from domestication of wolf-derived animals that has evolved; and it present or evident on their genetic makeup or DNA.

“Dogs are thought to have evolved from wolves that ventured into human camps, perhaps sniffing around for food. As they were tamed, they could then have served humans as hunting companions or guards. The results suggest all dogs derive from a single extinct wolf population - or perhaps a few very closely related ones. If there were multiple domestication events around the world, these other lineages did not contribute much DNA to later dogs. Dr Skoglund[ Dr Pontus Skoglund, co-author of the study and group leader of the Ancient Genomics laboratory at London's Crick Institute ]said it was unclear when or where the initial domestication occurred. "Dog history has been so dynamic that you can't really count on it still being there to readily read in their DNA. We really don't know - that's the fascinating thing about it."”(BBC)

 

“Greger Larson, a co-author from the University of Oxford, said: "Dogs are our oldest and closest animal partner. Using DNA from ancient dogs is showing us just how far back our shared history goes and will ultimately help us understand when and where this deep relationship began."”(BBC)

 

“The origin of the domestic dog includes the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and its development into dog types and dog breeds. The dog is a member of the wolf-like canids and was the first species and the only large carnivore to have been domesticated. Genetic studies show that dogs and modern wolves display reciprocal monophyly (separate groups), which implies that dogs are not genetically close to any living wolf population and that the wild ancestor of the dog is extinct. An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog, with the dog's similarity to the extant grey wolf being the result of genetic admixture between the two. In 2020, a literature review of canid domestication stated that modern dogs were not descended from the same Canis lineage as modern wolves, and proposes that dogs may be descended from a Pleistocene wolf closer in size to a village dog.^” (Wikipedia)

 

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The Uncrushable Insect

 

Recently, researchers or scientists have discovered the secret of the tough and “uncrushable” insect - diabolical ironclad beetle or Phloeodes diabolicus. The insect is really tough which can withstand 149 newton forces and even run over by a vehicle.

The insect secret is its interlocking jigsaw shape joints on its exoskeleton.

 

“Equipped with super-tough body armour, the insect can survive being stamped on or even run over by a car. Now scientists have investigated the secrets of how the beetle can withstand forces up to 39,000 times its body weight.” (BBC)

 

“The researchers used microscopy, spectroscopy and mechanical testing, to identify a series of interlocked jigsaw-shaped joints within the exoskeleton, which allow the beetle to withstand forces of up to 149 Newtons (approximately 39,000 times the creature's body weight).”(BBC)

 

“Now scientists have found a jigsaw-like mechanism in their exoskeletons that helps the little creature tolerate forces up to 39,000 times its own body weight….. The beetle, which no longer has its ancestors' ability to fly away from predators, has developed crush-resistant exoskeletal forewings -- called elytra -- as a form of protection, according to the new study published in the journal Nature.”(Bangkok Post)

 

“Using advanced imaging techniques, the researchers saw that the beetle has a series of interlocked jigsaw-shaped joints in its elytra and found that the shape of these blades and their laminated microstructure acted to toughen the exoskeleton.” (Bangkok Post)

image from Bangkok Post website

 

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Micro Snail In The Philippines

 

Philippines – Recently, a team of Filipino scientists have found a species of micro snail at Rizal Philippines in the Masungi Georeserve with only a size of an ant where quite 99.8 % genetically similar to what they found on Baguio city Philippines but also have differences in shell size and number of teeth.

The species is called Hypselostoma latispira masungiensis.

“Filipino scientists have discovered a new subspecies of the microsnail, named Hypselostoma latispia masungiensis, at the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal…….. "The discovery of the new subspecies highlights the importance of Masungi and other karst ecosystems as areas of high conservation value," the Masungi Georeserve Foundation said in a statement. A team of scientists from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños first found the microsnail in 2017, noting its similarity to the H. latispira in Baguio City. Microsnails have shells measuring less than 5 millimeters, or about the size of an ant….. After three years of study and analyses, the researchers found that the snails from Baguio and Rizal differed in size but had 99.8-percent genetic similarity. The snail in Baguio has a smaller shell size and four apertural teeth inside while the new subspecies has five teeth.” (CNN Philippines)

The Micro Snail (image from CNN Philippines webiste)

 

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Spooky Large Spiderweb

 

Missouri US – The employee of Missouri Department of Conservation has photograph a large spiderweb that the news said is spooky and can catch humans into it while on their trail.

The spiderweb is said to be made by an orb weaver spider according to the news.

“A Missouri Department of Conservation employee snapped a photograph of a huge spiderweb, and the department's social media followers couldn't help but comment on its spooky appearance.” (CNN)

“The web was made by an orb weaver spider, an arachnid known for its intricate web designs. They are large in size -- approximately a half-inch for females -- and are usually hairy or furry, according to the department's website. The spiders help to control the population of flies and other annoying bugs, but that's not the first thing that comes to mind.” (CNN)

The Large Spiderweb ( image from CNN website)

 

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Plants And Animals To Be Edited For Climate Change

 

Study says that editing the genes of plants and animals could help us humans and could contribute in controlling climate change problem in our planet. Experts will use a technology to do the editing.

“Editing the genes of plants and animals could help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and other sectors, according to a report highlighting the possible uses of the technology. Why it matters: For too long the potential of biotechnology to address climate change has taken a back seat to engineering, chemistry and energy. But new advances in gene editing could make farming more efficient and take carbon out of the atmosphere.” (Axios)

“Gene editing and selective breeding could reduce emissions from ruminant animals like cattle, which amount to perhaps 2.86 billion tons of CO2 equivalent per year.”(Axios)

“By gene editing plants to improve their use of photosynthesis, they could become much more effective at capturing and sequestering carbon from the air.(Axios)

 

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Death Of Elephants

 

In Botswana Africa there are recent found of more than 300 elephants’ carcasses or dead bodies of elephants where then authorities baffled and found the deaths to be mysterious. But now recently they now know the cause.

According to what they have discovered or findings, the cause of mysterious death is a toxin produce by a bacteria called “cyanobacteria” in the water. The elephants may have drunk a water together with the toxin. This bacteria produces toxin that not only can kill animals but also humans.

“Officials in Botswana say the deaths of hundreds of elephants in recent months which baffled and alarmed conservationists in the country were caused by toxins produced by cyanobacteria in water….."Our latest tests have detected cyanobacterial neurotoxins to be the cause of deaths. These are bacteria found in water," Mmadi Reuben, principal veterinary officer at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told a news conference on Monday.” (Aljazeera)

“Toxins made by microscopic algae in water caused the previously unexplained deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana, wildlife officials say.”(BBC)

image from Aljazeera website 

 

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GM Mosquitoes To Be Release On Florida Keys

Florida Keys, America – By the year 2021 and 2022 according to the news, local authorities on Florida Keys have approve the release of 750 million GM mosquitoes in a hope to kill the population of mosquitoes in the area that spread deadly diseases like dengue, zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. These GM mosquitoes are male mosquitoes.

The plan and activity is headed by Oxitec company that invented a mosquito name OX513A wherein it will kill the mosquito population in the area. The main target mosquito is the Aedes Aegypti which said to be spreading the mosquito-originated deadly diseases. The plan has been successful on Cayman Islands, Brazil, and Panama according to the news which have 95 % rate successful.

But the residents and the environmental groups are worrying about it. The residents are angry that they don’t want to become a guinea pigs and the environmental groups are worrying its effects on environment and ecosystem.

“However, environmental groups worry that the spread of the genetically modified male genes into the wild population could potentially harm threatened and endangered species of birds, insects and mammals that feed on the mosquitoes. "The release of genetically engineered mosquitoes will needlessly put Floridians, the environment and endangered species at risk in the midst of a pandemic," said Dana Perls, food and technology program manager at Friends of the Earth,….. “(CNN)

Aedes Aegypti Mosquito ( image from Wikipedia website)

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Antibodies Of Animals For COVID-19

Experts recently do an experimental trial on the antibodies of horses and llamas and they have found out that these animals have the capacity to resist COVID-19 and kill it or by their antibodies.

Now experts are getting the antibodies of these animals as therapy or treatment for people who have and suffering of COVID-19.

Perhaps, not only these animals, I learn they are also testing other animals.

It is great they have produce another alternative treatment for COVID-19 now on animal antibodies.

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